North leaning on strong pitching, limiting mistakes
Friday, May 5, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Westerville Central’s Jay Tomes attempts to turn the double play as Pickerington North’s Adam Sadler slides in to break it up during a game on May 4. Photo: John Hulkenberg
The formula the Pickerington North baseball team hoped would bring success this spring was bound to be somewhat different than a year ago following the loss of one of its all-time greatest players.
Kyle Koehler, a 2022 graduate who is now playing for Cuyahoga Community College, batted .493 and set a program-record for home runs in a season with eight last spring as the Panthers went 14-10.
Without his bat to serve as an anchor, the Panthers have structured their approach on having strong pitching and limiting mistakes as they look to bounce back from a postseason in which they lost in the second round of the Division I district tournament.
It’s worked so far, considering North was seventh in last week’s area coaches poll.
“Actually we came into the season not knowing a whole lot of roles,” coach Tim Thomas said. “We’re not really a younger team, but they didn’t know what their roles were going to be in February, (their roles) changed in March, (their roles) changed in April and now in May they kind of know their roles.”
The backbone of the pitching staff has been senior Adam Sadler, a three-year regular who has committed to Florence-Darlington Tech in Florence, South Carolina.
Sadler is one of four pitchers with an ERA under 2.00 for the Panthers, who were 12-5 overall and 6-4 in the OCC-Ohio Division after losing 4-2 to Westerville Central on May 4.
In the loss to Central, Sadler allowed four runs in the fourth inning, but two were unearned. Junior outfielder Dorian Hamilton produced a two-run single in the fifth, but the Panthers got no closer.
“Starting from the fall and into the winter, we just really worked on our pitching,” Sadler said. “Last year, we weren’t really the best guys pitching and in our conference we really need pitching going against teams like New Albany and Grove City. Last year (I worked on) my command and in the summer it was getting better. I’ve not been doing so well with my command, but (against Central) I did a little better with it.
“We’ve just got to hit the baseball, have no mental mistakes and play clean baseball. We’ve got a hard enough conference so we’ve got to cut down on the mistakes.”
Westerville Central’s Haiden Keifer reaches second base before Pickerington North’s Baylee Becker can make the tag during a game on May 4. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Junior Brett Madison was 3-1 with a 1.47 ERA and 44 strikeouts over his first 28 2/3 innings after having an ERA over 4.00 last season.
Junior Wesley Barnes had a 0.91 ERA over his first 15 innings and junior Keaton Rogers had a 1.71 ERA over his first 16 1/3 innings.
After winning eight of their first nine games, the Panthers lost back-to-back games to Grove City 7-3 on April 18 and 6-3 on April 19 and then fell 2-0 to New Albany on April 21 before beating the Eagles 3-0 on April 24.
The district tournament drawing is May 7, with North in line for its best seed since it was seeded eighth in 2016 and went on to win the state championship.
The Panthers lost in the second round of the 2017 district tournament and fell in district semifinals in 2018, ’19 and ’21.
They were the ninth seed last year.
“We literally just told the kids that if we play our game, we feel comfortable with anybody,” said Thomas, who is in his 17th season as coach. “Our game is our pitching, typically our defense and being aggressive at the plate. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing because for us to be competitive, we need all three of those things.
“(Sadler) is a three-year pitcher for us. He competes. If something doesn’t go the way we want it to go either by him or the guys behind him, he literally has the ability to (move forward). We can play with anybody, but we can also get beat by anybody and they know that. That’s why we don’t yell and scream as much as I did maybe 10 years ago.”
Pickerington North’s Brett Madison makes a throw to first base while Westerville Central’s Jay Tomes slides into second base during a game May 4. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Hamilton, who has split time between center field and left field, was batting .413 with 13 RBI over his first 53 plate appearances.
Madison, who plays on the infield when he’s not pitching, was hitting .386 with 13 RBI over his first 56 plate appearances.
Senior third baseman Drew Snipes, a Bluffton commit, had 16 RBI and a .353 batting average over his first 60 plate appearances.
Seniors Harry Kreinbrink (INF) and Kelton Waller (C) and juniors Baylee Becker (INF) and Wesley Barnes (INF) also have been among the team’s top hitters.
“We were a real young team last year and came into this year and nobody expected us to do that great, but we got off to a great start,” Hamilton said. “We just can’t be making the mistakes we’ve had. Last week, we had good hitting and great fielding. Things have come together really well.”